Like so many women out there, I can’t get enough of Say Yes to the Dress. Colin actually begged me to promise to never make him watch an episode ever again (that’s why we have two tvs… right?). So, while I never had visions of myself in a huge ballgown floating down the aisle, I did have an idea of what I wanted and what the process would be like.

Things I knew for sure:

I wanted a short dress. I didn’t even try on a long dress.

I wanted a color pop.

I didn’t want strapless.

I like lace

A couple weeks after Colin popped the question, my mom and Colin’s mom came up to Philly and the three of us headed off to NYC. Our first stop was our last stop – RK Bridal. RK Bridal doesn’t take appointments so the reviews were really hit or miss, mostly because sometimes the store is so packed it’s hard to think let alone find the wedding dress of your dreams. However, we lucked it. It was a Friday and it was SUPER rainy, so the store was actually pretty empty. I got double-y lucky when the fabulous Jo became my consultant. She was incredibly helpful and her and I just “clicked.” We were completely on the same wavelength when it came to my vision and she actually said “and this is the dress you are going to walk away with” when she pulled the dress I ultimately bought off the rack. The best thing about wanting a short dress was that it cut the dresses I was looking out down by about 95%. Jo and I pulled about 6 dresses and we were off to the fitting room. My dress was the second one I put on.

I was sold. The moms cried. I couldn’t stop smiling. Jo ran and grabbed a birdcage veil and pinned it on my head and I think I yelled “THIS IS IT! SOLD!”

But, me being me, there was still some things we added on. We swapped the silver ribbon out for a green one and we ordered extra lace from the company who made the dress so we could add cap sleeves.

Flash forward a couple months later. My dress was shipped to me and it was time to get alterations done. I found an amazing little Russian lady who took incredible care of me. I knew she could make the dress fit (I probably should have ordered a size smaller than I did), but I was nervous about the sleeves. She ended up sort of draping this strip of lace around my shoulders, looked at me and asked if I trusted her. I said, “go for it.” And this is what she came up with.

Loved. It. It actually ended up being one of my favorite parts of the dress!

Oh, and I obviously have to talk about the shoes. Once I decided I was going to go with the green ribbon I had Jo (my consultant) cut off a tiny strip from the sample so I could have a color swatch. I dragged the moms into a bunch of stores before I ended up at my mecca, the Kate Spade store in Soho where I realized that the green polka dots in these shoes were exactly the same as the green of my belt.

Plus, they are FREAKING ADORABLE and I can’t wait to wear them again! However, I did have a shoe change for the reception, but that’s a different story for another day…

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8 responses to “the story of the dress”

This just puts a big stupid grin on my face. I love it. Seriously the perfect dress. I was so lucky to have my mom make mine – she’s an amazing seamstress. I wanted very classic, 40’s style. And I love your non-traditional shoes. So fun,

Sooooooo cute! I love this and want the exact same thing in a long version. Who’s the designer!? I tried on dresses with my mom last week and I was so surprised at how fun it was….I found one that I really loved but want to keep looking!